Mobile Suit Gundam Infinity
by TheAngryMan
Summary: The year is Infinite Century 0079, and war has broken out between the Earth Federation and ZAFT. When the neutral colony of Heliopolis comes under attack, Amuro Ray, Kira Yamato, and their friends will find themselves caught up in a war they thought themselves safe from. Gundam Mega-Crossover, but starts mainly with 0079 and SEED.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Mobile Suit Gundam 0079, Mobile Suit Gundam: SEED, New Mobile Report Gundam: Wing, After War Gundam: X Martian Successor Nadesico, Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, Halo, or Mass Effect. The Gundam series is owned by Sunrise, Nadesico by Xebec, Halo by 343 Studios and Microsoft, and Mass Effect by Bioware.**

**And before you ask, most of those series listed play extremely minor roles. Halo and Mass Effect have no physical presence, but were used as a guide when deciding what technologies to include. Wing is a one scene deal for now, but will be more important later. X, AGE, and Nadesico have a secondary role. The main series are Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, although that may change as events progress, for now, they are the main two.**

**Edit 5/5/13: Found out that Solar Era was being used by someone else, so I decided to change the dating system in the story to Infinite Century (I.C.), which I haven't found being used yet. I also added some things I forgot on the Mech Profile, and added a few things here and there.  
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**Edit 5/13/13: In addition to fixing several minor errors and cleaning up the mech profiles, I also have come to the conclusion that this story probably doesn't need an M Rating just yet, so I decided to set the Rating down to Teen, although it is very likely that the Rating will go back up eventually.  
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**Edit 5/31/13: Improved the Unit Profiles and added some details to the fight scene at the end.**

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_**The year is Infinite Century (I.C.) 0079, and all of mankind is embroiled in a fearsome conflict.**_

_**The roots of this conflict lead back to many years ago, when genetic engineering brought forth a new strain of humanity, the Coordinators. Considered superior to baseline humans due to their genetic enhancements, the Coordinators faced severe discrimination from the rest of Earth's population. In particular, the group Blue Cosmos made it their singular mission to exterminate the genetically enhanced Coordinators. Fear and Inequality pervaded their lives, and no one was willing to help them.**_

_**Seeking to escape their tortured existence on Earth, the Coordinators fled to space. Setting themselves up in the PLANT-type colonies of Side 4, the Coordinators attempted to gain independence from the Earth Federation. However, the Federation was largely controlled by the same men and women who had forced the Coordinators from Earth in the first place, who insured that the PLANTs were deprived of Agricultural colonies, forcing them to remain dependant on Earth for their food supply. Independence seemed little more than wishful thinking.**_

_**This all changed when the colonies at Side 3 declared independence from the Federation. Under the leadership of Zeon Zum Deikun, a longtime friend and supporter of the first Coordinator, George Glenn, and the creator of the Newtype Theory, the colonies renamed themselves the Republic of Zeon. In a show of friendship and support, Deikun gave the PLANTs several agricultural colonies, skirting around the laws that had prevented the PLANTs from procuring said colonies themselves.**_

_**This caused the Federation to enact strict sanctions of the Republic, but Deikun didn't yield. For awhile, it seemed as though a war between the Federation and the PLANTs was inevitable. Then, Zeon Zum Deikun died. In his stead, Degwin Zabi, his advisor, took control of the Republic. Putting his family members in high ranking positions of the government and military, as well as initiating a purge of Deikun loyalists, Zabi solidified his rule over the rechristened Principality of Zeon. Furthermore, Zabi went on to create a military alliance with the PLANTs, creating ZAFT.**_

_**The Federation, once so ready to sweep in and crush the unnatural Coordinators, balked at the possibility of fighting both PLANT and Zeon at once. In response, the Federation enacted the Year 70 Reconstruction Plan, intended to get their forces up to par for any future conflict. For several years, the people of the Earth Sphere waited. Then, in I.C. 77, war finally broke out. The Federations was confident that it could achieve a quick victory. Two years later, the fighting remains stalemated.**_

_**The primary reason for this was the introduction of a new type of combat vehicle, the Mobile Suit. Possessing a humanoid frame and range of motion, the Mobile Suit outperformed everything the Federation had to offer. Seeking to break the deadlock, the Federation has initiated its own weapons program, the G-Project, at the neutral colony of Heliopolis, in order to develop their own mobile suits and even the odds. ZAFT, however, has caught wind of the Projects existence, and has dispatched some of their elite forces to ensure that these new suits remain out of Federation hands…**_

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**Opening Theme: Eternal Blaze**

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**Gundam Rising Part 1: False Peace**

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**January 25, 0079 3:00 PM**

**Orb Union, Side 7**

**Outside Heliopolis Colony**

Heliopolis was far removed from the violent conflict that had consumed the Earth Federation and Sides Alliance for the last two years. As a member of the Orb Union, it maintained a strict policy of non-interference. Its citizens would not pick a side in the conflict.

So it was definitely a valid question as to why a small fleet of Earth Federation warships were approaching the colony. Most of the ships were Thermopylae Class Cruisers, the backbone of the Federation's Space Forces, but the lead ship was something else. Sporting a sleek white, blue, and red paint job, the ship was a major departure from the Federations usual drab grey. Both the Orb dock workers and other fleet personnel couldn't help but marvel at the new vessel.

They were not the only ones watching, however. Clamped onto the colonies outer wall, hidden from view, were three mobile suits. Their green paint job and cyclopean heads gave them away as Zakus, the first mass produced mobile suit, and the main unit of the Zodiac Alliance and Freedom Treaty, otherwise known as ZAFT. One of the suits held a sniper rifle, and was watching the fleet with great interest.

"Well, Slender," Sergeant Denim, the recon team leader, asked the sniper. "What do you see?"

"New ship, carrier." Slender recited methodically, zooming in with his sniper rifle "SCV-01, _Archangel._"

"_Archangel_!" Gene, the final team member, scoffed "How pathetic. These Feddies really think that ship is gonna save them!"

"I don't know," Denim replied. "But if that ship is here, that means the G-Project probably is as well."

"So what?" Gene laughed dismissively "It's not like they could actually build something that could challenge the might of ZAFT."

"Underestimating your enemy like that is the easiest way to get killed, Gene," Denim replied harshly, before glancing at the inbound carrier. "We'd better report to the Commander!"

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The Ashton debris field, located near Heliopolis, was the remnant of an unfortunate accident many years prior. A cargo ship's reactor had gone critical due to neglectful maintenance, and had taken part of a colony with it. Thankfully, most of the population was able to evacuate before the colony completely fell apart, and the Junk Guild had long since stripped the site clean of anything of value.

The one thing that the wreckage did provide, however, was good cover. Neither the Federation ships nor Orb's own radar operators had detected the two ZAFT Cruisers, that had hidden themselves in the debris. If the two ships had been discovered, the attacking force would have immediately regretted their discovery, for these two Cruisers were no ordinary vessels. They were the _Falmel_, a Sturm Class Cruiser that served as the personal ship of Char Aznable, the Red Comet of Junius, and the _Gamow_, an older Tirpitz Class Cruiser that served as the headquarters of the infamous Le Creuset Team.

Onboard the _Falmel_, Char waited patiently for word from the Recon Team. He was an imposing figure, draped in his red uniform, signifying his elite status. His most distinct feature, however, was his helmet, which covered most of his face, with only his mouth and a few locks of cropped golden hair revealing themselves from under it. After what seemed like an eternity, a signal came through.

"Sir!" Char's loyal second in command Dren chimed in "Were getting a communication from Denim."

"Good." Char replied "Put it on the main screen."

"Commander!" Denim saluted "We've spotted a Federation fleet inbound to Heliopolis, four Thermopylae Class Cruisers, and a new class of carrier. I'm sending the visual data to you now."

"Interesting." Char looked over the new ships, analyzing every detail. "Can we be sure that it was designed to carry mobile suits?"

"The height of the launch bays gives it away." Slender chimed in "You wouldn't need half the height it has if you were launching Moebius Fighters."

"Very well." Char smirked, knowing that the Federation would never expect what was about to happen next. "Sergeant, prepare your team for Phase Two of the Operation."

"Roger that sir, Denim out." He replied, cutting off the communication.

"Sir," Dren asked "Is this really the best course of action? I mean, we don't have authorization from the Supreme Council, and Orb is neutral."

"The Supreme Council will understand once we bring them the suits" Char brushed off his second in commands worries "and Heliopolis forfeited its neutrality when it decided to work with the Earth Federation."

"Understood, Sir." Dren replied "Should I open a channel to the _Gamow_?"

"Yes" Char replied "Please do."

After a few moments, a line of communication was established with the _Gamow_, a familiar face greeting Char on the other end.

"Well Char?" Rau Le Creuset, the commander of both the Gamow and the infamous Le Creuset Team, said "Do we have confirmation?"

"Our advance team located a Federation Task Force inbound to Heliopolis" Char said, his tone utterly serious. "One of the ships is a carrier, one that appears to be designed to utilize mobile suits."

"The Federation believes that they can hide behind the Orb's neutrality." Creuset said, smirking "It's time to show them just how wrong they are."

Nodding in response to Creuset's declaration, Char opened a second channel, this one to the _Gamow's_ hanger. Char then spoke.

"Lieutenant Zala!" The soldier in question turned upon hearing Char, and saluted "Is your team ready for the infiltration?"

"Yes sir!" The young coordinator replied "We're all set and waiting on your word."

"Excellent!" Char said, giving a small smile at the pilot's enthusiasm "Phase Two is ago, good luck."

A few minutes later, two Sturmwind light shuttles departed from the Gamow's hanger, their objective to meet up with the advance team, and infiltrate the colony, but they were not the only force sneaking into the colony.

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Unbeknownst to the ZAFT task force, the small fleet they were monitoring were not the only Federation ships in the area. Silently approaching Heliopolis from the other direction was another ship, the SCV-02 _White Base_. Onboard, Captain Paolo Cassius, the ships commander, couldn't help but scowl. He didn't like his current situation one bit.

He understood the importance of getting the G-Project to Earth as fast as possible, but he was not happy that Federation Command was practically throwing _Archangel_ to the wolves. A calculated risk, they called it. Let the _Archangel_ take the obvious route all the way to _JOSH-A_ while the White Base snuck to Jaburo.

"Sir!" Cassius was shaken out of his thoughts by his second in command, Bright Noa "We've been given permission to dock at Hanger 8."

"Excellent." The Captain replied "Helmsman, bring us in."

The bridge remained silent as the White Base rumbled towards Heliopolis. The atmosphere was so thick you could cut it with a knife. So much weight rode on this mission going right, and yet there were so many things that could go wrong. Cassius scowled.

"Sir." Bright asked "Are you alright?"

"Tell me Bright, honestly." Cassius said "What are your thoughts about our current situation?"

"Well. Sir" Bright replied "I don't think we need to worry. The Archangel has a good captain, and if those G-Project weapons are as good as they claim, I doubt they will have problems with ZAFT."

"I'm more worried about ZAFT hitting us now, while were vulnerable" Cassius admitted "If they were to strike now, they could kill two birds with one stone!"

"But Heliopolis is neutral!" Bright said "Supreme Council would never order an attack."

"The Supreme Council? No." the Captain replied "It's their field commanders that I'm worried about."

"Sir, I think you're letting the stress go to your head." Bright said "You're acting as though ZAFT already know about the project."

"And you, Bright, are acting as though they don't." Cassius replied "Never underestimate your enemy, especially not ZAFT!"

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**January 25, 0079, 3:20 PM**

**Orb Union, Side 7**

**Heliopolis Colony, Interior**

Inside the colony, Orb citizens went about their daily tasks without a care in the world. Some had always lived there, while others were immigrants, here to escape the devastating war that had engulfed the Earth Sphere. Whatever their reasons, the population of Heliopolis were very happy to be as far away from the ongoing ZAFT/Federation conflict.

Sayla Mass was not one of these people. While she was glad not to be involved with the war, there was a hole in her heart. One that was made when someone very close to her vanished, leaving on a path of vengeance against the ones that had stripped their family of everything it had once had. Sadly, Sayla glanced at her golden locket, staring at the picture inside.

"Casval" She said softly "Why did you have to leave, and why can't I find you."

She had done everything in her power to find her missing brother, but years of searching had given her nothing, and now with the war, there was a distinct chance that he was dead. Trying to hold back the tears, she closed the locket, brushing some of her shoulder length blonde hair out of her eyes, and returned the locket to its place in her red jacket. Suddenly, she heard someone calling out to her.

"Sayla!" a familiar voice called out "Hey, what are you doing?"

Sayla turned to see Fraw Bow, one of her friends, running up to her. Fraw had short orange hair and red eyes, stood five feet, three inches, and was dressed in a dark green coat and skirt. Although only fifteen, she had a warm, motherly attitude, and often looked after her friends, especially the more reclusive ones.

"Oh, nothing Fraw." Sayla responded, unable to keep her sadness out of her voice. "Just getting some fresh air, that all."

"You were thinking about him again, weren't you." Fraw said knowingly.

"Yes." Sayla admitted.

"Don't worry." Fraw said, hugging her friend "I'm sure you will see him again soon, and you can count on myself and everyone else to help however we can!"

"Hey! Fraw! Sayla!" a voice called out "Over here!"

"Well, speak of the devil." Sayla said, as a group of their friends ran up towards them.

First, there was Tolle Koenig, a young fifteen year old boy with wavy brown hair and green eyes. He stood five feet, three inches tall, and wore a teal shirt and black pants.

Next there was Tolle's girlfriend, Miriallia Haw. She was sixteen years old, with shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes. She stood five feet, two inches tall, and wore a yellow and orange dress.

Then there was Kai Shiden, the groups resident pessimist. He had a mop of black hair and bluish grey eyes. He stood five feet, five inches, and wore a black shirt with a purple coat and black pants.

Coming up in the rear was Hayato Kobayashi. Hew was rather stocky, coming in a four feet, nine inches. He had black hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a black shirt with light blue pants.

"Hey guys!" Fraw greeted them happily "How are you doing today?"

"We're all good!" Tolle remarked happily, before asking "Hey, have either of you seen Amuro and Kira?"

"They should be over at Amuro's house." Sayla responded "Why, does his dad have more work for them?"

"Yeah, the professor needs them to look at something." Kai said "Problem is, the door is locked, they're not answering the doorbell , and you're the only one with a spare key."

"I see." Fraw sighed "Some things never change. Alright then, lets go."

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A few minutes later the group had arrived at the Ray household. It was a decent sized family home, but the only occupant was Amuro, since his father often worked late at the labs, and his mother hadn't followed them to Heliopolis. Fraw grabbed her key and opened the door.

"This should only take a minute." she said "You guys just wait here."

The house was, as usual, a total wreck. Fraw sometimes wondered if Amuro would be able to survive without her. Finding the ground floor devoid of life, she moved up to the second. Moving to Amuro's room, she was about to open the door, when suddenly, she heard what sounded like someone crying. Curious, she pressed her ear against the door.

"Man" the first voice sobbed "No matter how many times I watch that episode, I still tear up every time."

"I know!" the other replied "Joe's death just hits so hard, and comes out of nowhere!"

Fraw almost immediately figured out exactly what was going on, and wasted no time burst through the door.

"Amuro! Kira!" she yelled "Did you spend all day watching Gekiganger again!?"

Both teens jumped at the unexpected intrusion, crumbling into an undignified heap on the floor. They quickly untangled themselves from each other, and glared at Fraw. Amuro was fifteen, stood five feet five inches tall, with short brown hair and blue eyes. He was still wearing the white sleeveless shirt and boxers that he slept in. Kira, on the other hand, was sixteen, stood five feet four inches tall, and had spiky brown hair and purple eyes. He was also much better dressed than Amuro, wearing a nice black and white suit, with green pants.

"Fraw, don't do that!" Amuro complained.

"Yeah!" Kira continued "Haven't you ever heard of knocking."

"Have you ever heard of doorbells?" Fraw countered "I guess not, or otherwise you would have answered yours and not stayed in your room watching cartoons until three in the afternoon!"

"THREE IN THE AFTERNOON!?" both teens exclaimed. Looking up to the clock for confirmation.

"Oh man." Amuro groaned "We still haven't finished with what dad gave us to work on last night!"

"Well, too bad." Fraw said "He's already asking for more of your help."

"Darn." Kira said, before asking "Hey, Amuro, does your dad ever spend quality time with you that doesn't involve doing his work for him?"

"Not, usually." was the short reply.

"You know" Fraw added "If you guys spent more time working, and less time watching TV, you wouldn't be in this situation."

"Hey" Kira defended "We didn't do nothing but watch Gekiganger, we also finished up Haro's maintenance!"

As if on cue, a small spherical robot with a green paint job rolled out of the corner where it had been resting.

"Watch Gekiganger, Watch Gekiganger." it said with a high pitched voice, before jumping into Fraw's arms using its wing-ears.

"Well." Fraw said "I guess I have to thank you for that."

"We know bring you images from the Kaohsiung front, where heavy fighting is taking place." The TV blared on in the background.

"Hey," Amuro said, turning back to the television "it looks like more news from the war."

"According to information just received." The reporter continued "ZAFT forces have approached within six kilometers of Kaohsiung."

"Kaohsiung?" Fraw asked, worriedly "Isn't that pretty close to the mainland?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't worry." Kira said comfortingly "Orb is neutral, and ZAFT has no reason to attack."

The scene on the television shifted to the frontlines, where another reported stood. Behind him, three Zaku's could be seen.

"Here, about seven kilometers from Kaohsiung." The reported said "the sounds of severe battle continue to echo-_BOOM_"

The broadcast was interrupted by a sudden explosion. Both the reporter and cameraman turned to the source. Then, they saw it. Standing in the smoking wreckage of what used to be a metal door, was a mobile suit. It had the appearance of a Roman Centurion, right down to the red crest mounted on its head, and the circular shield on its left arm. It's right arm featured a nasty looking cannon, and it was painted pure white. Even the Zaku's seemed left in awe by its presence.

That, however, would prove their undoing. In a fluid motion, the unknown suit raised its right arm and fired a shot from its cannon, hitting the lead Zaku dead center, destroying it. The other two quickly reacted, firing their machineguns and moving in opposite directions. The unknown just raised its shield arm for protection, and fired off another three shots. Two missed, but the third hit, killing a second Zaku.

The final Zaku discarded its machinegun and grabbed its heat hawk before charging at the unknown. Before it could make contact, the unknown grabbed a cylindrical device from its belt, which it ignited into a beam saber, and stabbed the Zaku dead center. Both the reporter and Cameraman were speechless as the unknown suit simply walked away from the carnage it wrought, heading towards the sound of battle.

"Whoa!" Kira said "What was that?"

"It must have been some new Federation model" Amuro said "I guess their top brass finally figured out that they weren't getting the "Quick victory" they said they would give."

"And Professor Ray isn't getting the quick services you said YOU would give." Fraw said accusingly. "Now get moving, and Amuro, get some pants on!"

"Alright alright." Amuro sighed "I'll be down in a minute."

Fraw and Kira quickly went outside with the rest of their friends. When Amuro came down, he was wearing a yellow shirt and a light blue jacket, with matching pants. Now that the group was finally assembled, they headed over to the nearest public transportation stop.

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In another part of the colony, a young man, with black hair and green eyes, a red and yellow jacket over a white shirt, and blue pants, stared intensely at a picture in his hand. It was the picture of a girl that he had been hired to "retrieve" from this colony.

"_Retrieve my ass," _Garrod Ran thought, scowling at the building his quarry was stationed in _"My contact didn't say anything about this type of security!"_

The building in question just happened to be a local office, which was being guarded by several heavily armed men he didn't want to mess with. Sighing, he thought back to how he had gotten himself stuck in this situation.

_It was supposed to be an easy assignment. Just jack some mobile suit from a lightly defended ZAFT outpost, give it to the guys that had hired him, and get paid. No plan survives contact with the enemy, however, and he not only had failed to get the suit, but had also been captured. Now, he was sitting behind a desk, in what appeared to be some sort of interrogation room._

_A door opened up, revealing a tall man with glasses. Any other features were obscured by the darkness. He quietly approached the table, sat opposite of Garrod, and set down a large folder. Pulling several items from the folder, the man spoke._

"_Garrod Ran," he said " Age fifteen, height five feet, six inches, Affiliation: Junk Guild. Wanted for thirteen counts of theft, two counts of Hijacking, and three counts of kidnapping, from both ZAFT and the Federation. Quite an impressive history you have, Mr. Ran."_

"_Is there some point to this?" Garrod asked, annoyed "If your just going to throw me in a cell, then do it and stop wasting my time."_

"_Actually, Mr. Ran, there is." the mysterious man smirked "We are interested in your services."_

"_Let me guess," Garrod said "You want me to work for you, and in return I get out of jail?"_

"_Spot on, Mr. Ran," The man pulled out a photo, showing a young girl with long brown hair and dark violet eyes "This is Tiffa Adill, and I want you to "retrieve" her for us."_

"_Alright," Garrod said, interested "What do I need to know?"_

"_She used to live in a PLANT," he said "But she was kidnapped by Blue Cosmos."_

"_If they kidnapped her, she is probably dead." Garrod said, bluntly "Blue Cosmos does assassinations, not kidnapping."_

"_Normally, that would be the case," the man replied "But this is a special circumstance, for she is not only a Coordinator, but also a Newtype."_

"_I see," Garrod said "So they wanted to know more about Newtypes, but didn't want to risk a Natural."_

"_Exactly," the man said "and if you accept, your slate will be wiped clean by ZAFT, so are you in?"_

Garrod really shouldn't have said yes, but he did. Now he had to find some way to get inside the building, get the girl, and escape, all without being caught.

Today sucked.

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In another part of the colony, the Archangel had finished docking. Natarle Badgiruel, an ensign on the ship, was pleasantly surprised to see that several of the G-Weapons had already been delivered. She quickly approached one of the workers, who saluted her.

"Ma'am," he said "Welcome to Heliopolis."

"Thank you," she replied curtly, before pointing to the Tank-like mobile armors being loaded onto the _Archangel_ "What can you tell me about these units?"

"These one?" he asked "They're Guntanks, the first suit we built back in 75. Don't worry, though, we'll have some more advanced stuff headed you way within the hour."

"Excellent," Natarle said "I have a meeting scheduled with the head of the Project. Would you mind showing me the way."

"Right this way Ma'am!" the worked replied.

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**January 25, 0079 3:30 PM**

**Orb Union, Side 7**

**Heliopolis Colony, Exterior**

Outside of the colony, things were rather calm. The four Thermopylae Class Cruisers stood guard around the hanger entrance. There was no need for concern, yet, but it always helped to be prepared. Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, the Hawk on Endymion, knew this fact very well. Being a Newtype, one of the few in the Federation's armed forces, gave him senses outside of what a human, Coordinator or Natural, was supposed to be able to have. He knew that ZAFT was nearby, but sitting on the bridge of the _Malta_, he couldn't really do anything about it.

"Feeling nervous, Lieutenant?" The ships Captain asked.

"Yes sir," La Flaga replied "It's a miracle we arrived without incident."

"Well, don't worry." the captain said "Even if ZAFT does find us, they can't do a thing while we're docked."

"Because it's a neutral colony?" he responded :"What a joke!"

"Sure," the Captain laughed "but it's because of that that we've been able to proceed with our plans to this point."

"Anyway, what do you think of the pilots?" La Flaga asked "Do you really think that they will be able to handle those things on the ground?"

"They're young," the Captain admitted "but they're all top guns, selected to be G Pilots. They'll be fine."

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If the _Malta's_ Captain, or any of the Federation personnel stationed on Heliopolis, had been able to see what ZAFT was doing right now, they would be astonished. The Zaku's of the reconnaissance team had been joined by two shuttles full of ZAFT commandos, headed by the Le Creuset Team itself. Now they were discussing their infiltration in depth.

"Alright, Sergeant," Athrun Zala, the Teams leader said "What's the plan?"

"We've discovered a series of old maintenance tunnels, once that haven't been used since the colony was built," Denim responded "We'll use those to move around undetected."

"We've discovered an exit that gives us a vantage point over the site the G Weapons are located," Slender added "as well as a way into the _Archangel's_ hanger."

"The Le Creuset Team, Wolf Team, Gene and I will head for the G Project site," Slender said "Octopus Team and Raven Team will plant charges in the hanger, while Slender stays near the exit, both to cover our flank, and relay communications between us and the Commander."

"You heard him, soldiers," Athrun yelled "Move out!"

The strike team wasted no time entering the abandoned maintenance shaft, plunging into the depths of the colony.

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**January 25, 0079 3:40 PM**

**Orb Union, Side 7**

**Heliopolis Colony, Interior**

It took about ten minutes for Amuro and his friends to reach the nearest public transport stop. In that time, they had mostly talked about trivial things and had fun, since they had to try and behave themselves at the lab. As the group moved forward, Amuro noticed someone ahead.

"Hey," he said, pointing forward "isn't that Flay and her friends?"

The group looked ahead, and saw that he was right. Flay Allster, the daughter of the Earth Federation's Vice-Foreign Minister, was just ahead, chatting with two of her friends. In her arms, there was another Haro, this one colored orange. When it spotted Amuro's group, it jumped up into the air.

"Amuro Here! Amuro Here!" it chanted excitedly.

Flay quickly took notice of the approaching group, and waved at them

"Hey," Flay waved "Miriallia, Fraw, Sayla! How are you doing?"

"Were fine." Sayla responded curtly.

"Hey," one of Flay's friends said "I bet you'll know, guys!"

"Know what?" Miriallia asked.

"Come on," Flay said to her friend "Stop it!"

"She got a letter from Sai Argyle!" the friend continued "But she says nothing is going one, and won't tell us anything!"

"So?" Amuro asked.

While most of his friends could have seen Amuro's reaction to the situation coming from a mile away, both of Flay's friends looked at him like he had just asked them how to breathe.

"What do you mean "So?"?" Flay's first friend yelled "Getting a letter from a boy is a really important thing!"

"Um, okay." Amuro was thoroughly confused. Why was Flay getting a letter from Sai important? Was he hurt? Did he have cancer of something? He was brought back to reality when someone coughed behind him. Turning around, he saw a tall woman with black hair, a red and black suit, and sunglasses. Seeing that she had gotten their attention, the woman spoke up.

"If you're not moving on, mind if I do?" she asked

"Oh, sorry," Sayla apologized "Please, go ahead."

As the woman, along with her companion, a young man in dock workers gear, moved into an available car, Flay turned to her two friends.

"Alright, lets go," she said, turning to Amuro's group "See you guys later!"

"See Later! See Later!" her Haro said jubilantly.

As the three friends piled into the auto-car, discussing where they were going to shop and what they were going to eat, Amuro continued to puzzle over this "Letter", and its significance. Tolle seemed to take notice.

"Hey, Amuro," he asked "Were you serious about not understanding why they were do riled up about the letter?"

"Yes!" Amuro yelled, exasperated "Do you understand what they were taking about?"

Tolle was about to say something, but was cut off by Kai.

"Save your breath, Tolle," Kai quipped "The day Amuro understands social interactions is the day Blue Cosmos declares Coordinators the best thing since sliced bread!"

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As Natarle and the dock worker rode towards Anaheim Electronics Heliopolis HQ, her mind wandered back to those kids she saw back at the stop. They were so carefree and jubilant, so far away from the terrible conflict that was cutting up the Earth Sphere.

"It's so peaceful here," she said "In other parts of the world, kids their age are fighting on the frontlines."

"Yes," the worker replied "Hopefully, our G-Project will be able to bring this war to an end."

The car reached the security gate, and the worked pulled out an ID card, which was rapidly scanned by the computer, and read as a positive match for the worker. The gate opened and the car proceeded through the testing site, finally reaching its destination at foot of the building. As Natarle got out of the car, she was approached by another woman.

"Ensign Badgiruel?" the woman asked "I'm Lieutenant Ramius. Professor Ray is expecting you."

Nodding, Natarle followed the Lieutenant into the building, and onto an elevator. Reaching the fifth floor, she was then led to a conference room. Inside, Professor Tem Ray sat, waiting patiently.

"Ah, Ensign Badgiruel," he greeted "Welcome to Anaheim. I trust your journey here was not a problem."

"No, it was not," she replied curtly "but I would like to get straight to business."

"Very direct," the Professor said approvingly "As I'm sure you've heard, out of the twelve units we've managed to produce, half are currently ready for operation."

"We already received the first batch." she replied.

"Yes," Ray continued "Well, in addition to the Guntanks, we've also got one Guncannon unit and Two Gundams, the latest, and dare I say best, mobile suit we've managed to produce during the course of the Project."

"Good," Natarle responded "What can you tell me about them?"

"First up, the Guncannon," Ray said, activating a display screen on the right wall, which showed a mobile suit colored with a combination of tan and green. "This is the Buster variant. It is armed with two railguns, a bazooka, a beam cannon, and two vulcan cannons. It is designed to act as artillery support."

The view screen switched to a different machine, this one colored blue and grey. "This is the Gundam Duel. It is specialized for Close-Quarters-Combat, and armed with two beam sabers, a beam rifle with an under barrel beam dagger, two vulcan cannons, a heat saber, and a shield."

The last units was similar to the Duel, but with a menacing black and red paintjob. "This is the Gundam Blitz. It is coated with a unique colloid that renders it invisible to optical scanners. This, combined with its unique ECM suite, allow it to remain hidden even without Minovsky interference. It is the ultimate machine for reconnaissance, or sabotage, whichever suits your purposes."

Natarle was impressed. These units seemed a lot more advanced than the Guntanks they had in the hanger.

"What about the other six?" she asked.

"Ah yes, those," Ray said "Sadly, they will not be ready in time for your departure. Two of them are intended for Newtypes, and we do not have enough data to reliably utilize them. Another two have issues with their generators due to their large amount of equipment. One is still undergoing tests of its transformation ability, and the last one has similar issues with its adaptability upgrades."

"Very well, Professor," Natarle said "When can we expect the three we are getting."

"Final testing should take less than half and hour, then we will send them your way" Ray said as another man entered the room "Petty Officer Jose, what seems to be the problem?"

"Well sir," the man, Jose, answered "It seems as though someone made a mistake with the loading procedures, and the Alpha model Guntank got sent in place of the Siege model."

"Well, I guess it was to much to hope that everything would go right," The Professor sighed "Focus on loading the Duel, Blitz, and Buster, then get the Siege ready for transport."

"Yes sir!" he replied, before leaving.

Natarle's eyes narrowed "I thought you said that you only had twelve prototypes?"

"Only twelve that were intended to see combat," the older man clarified "The Guntank Alpha was the first suit we ever built, and was pitiful even in comparison to our tanks, let alone a mobile suit. The other three Guntanks all improved upon it's original design."

"Alright then," Badgiruel replied, satisfied with his answer "I'll head back to the _Archangel_ then."

"Best of luck on your way back to Earth." Ray called out.

Once Natarle was gone, he let lose a sigh. All the excuses he had given for the other G-Weapons lack of deployment "had" been a problem, but only the Aegis and the Strike really needed any more work, and even then, that was negligible. He wished he didn't have to lie, but the _White Base's _presence was top secret, even by the standards of the Project. He just hoped that this all ended soon. Then he might finally be able to reconnect with Amuro.

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Meanwhile, in a different part of the Anaheim Building, Amuro, Kira, and the others had finally made it to the lab. As they entered, they were greeted by a jubilant old man. He had a large mop of grey hair, as well as a beard and mustache, and was wearing an orange workers uniform.

"Amuro, Kira," the man yelled "You finally showed up! What took you so long?"

"Oh, hey Vargas," Kira greeted "Sorry for being late. We lost track of time, and Fraw had to come and grab us."

"You'd better be sorry!" a young blonde girl wearing a pink skirt yelled "Flit practically finished your work for you already!"

"Emily, don't worry," Flit, an equally young boy with pointy green hair and a yellow jacket said "It wasn't all that difficult."

"Well still," Emily pouted "They should have got here sooner."

"Sorry Flit." Kira apologized "We'd be more than happy to help you finish it up."

"Yeah," Amuro added "Might as well do what we can."

"Thanks guys." Flit said happily.

"Oh, you guys finally came," Sai Argyle, another student with short brown hair, a maroon jacket, and orange sunglasses, said "That's a relief, right Kuzzey?"

"Yeah," Kuzzey, the last member of their group, who had black hair and wore a green jacket replied "I think that's a new record for them."

"By the way," Kai asked, pointing to the far corner of the room "Who's that creeper in the trench coat?"

The "creeper" in question was standing against the wall, dressed in a brown trench coat with a baggy hat. They had blonde hair and hazel eyes, and were trying to remain inconspicuous. And failing. Badly.

"Oh," Kuzzey remarked "That's the Professor's guest. I guess they were told to wait here, since the Professor was in the middle of something important."

"Whatever!" Kai said, clearly not caring much. Things then settled into the normal pace as everyone got to work.

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On a small hill overlooking the Anaheim facility, an maintenance door that hadn't been used in decades opened up, allowing two Zaku's and two squads of commandos into the interior. Giving the area quick glance, Denim activated his radio.

"Raven Team," he said "What's your status?"

"The bombs are set, sir." Raven's leader confirmed.

"Excellent, what about you, Octopus?" he asked.

"Same here," the team leader replied "In a few minutes, this whole place is going to be nothing but dust."

"Good!" Denim smirked, glad everything was going according to plan "Exfil to your shuttles, we'll take it from here."

"Roger that."

"Acknowledged"

As the radio went out, Denim glanced at the digital readout of the charges time to detonation. There was till two minutes left on the clock, but everyone was ready to go. Gene spoke up.

"Man, this anticipation is killing me!" He yelled.

"Same here," one of the Creuset Team members, Yzak if Denim remembered correctly responded "I can't wait to take down these Feddie bastards!"

"Keep it together, you two," Athrun said "You'll get your chance in a minute."

Silence resumed among the group. Slowly the timer got closer and closer to zero. Once it got to the single digits, everyone was ready. Finally, it counted down, three, two, one, zero.

A massive explosion was heard, as Raven and Octopus Team's explosive charges tore the hanger apart.

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Garrod had been standing in front of the building for half and hour now, and still wasn't any closer to getting in. He was almost prepared to give up, when an explosion erupted near the frontal docks. The building's guards immediately turned their attention to the explosion, and then to the sound of gunfire that erupted in the opposite direction. All the guards then ran off to the sound of fighting, leaving a disoriented Garrod not sure whether to be glad he could finally get into the building, or worried about the fact that a war had just started up in the colony.

"_Well," _he thought _"best not to look a gift horse in the mouth, right?"_

Taking a short glance at the battle unfolding down the road, he ran across the street and into the building. Inside, the place didn't look like anything special, just a normal apartment. Garrod went through the whole building, trying to locate is quarry. Finally, as he reached the top floor, her wound up running face first into someone, with both of them falling to the floor.

"Ow!" Garrod exclaimed, as he hit the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry," A soft voice said "I wasn't paying attention."

Garrod couldn't believe his luck, as the voice just so happened to belong to the very girl he was looking for. She looked exactly the same as in the picture, the brown hair, the purple eyes. She was wearing a light purple dress, and was looking at him wit questioning eyes. Garrod moved to help her up.

"No," he said "It was my fault. You're Tiffa Adill, right?"

"Yes." she answered.

"I'm Garrod Ran," he introduced himself "I was sent here to get you."

"Ah," she said, seeming to understand "What happened to the guards?"

"They're…Busy." he said, as an explosion was heard a short distance away, as if to emphasize is point.

"Alright then," Tiffa said "Is it alright if we take someone else as well?"

"Uh, sure." Garrod said

Tiffa quickly moved to one of the rooms. Knocking on the door lightly, she spoke up.

"Yurin," she called softly "We have to go."

Slowly, the door opened, and another girl came out. She looked similar to Tiffa, having the same purple eyes, but her hair was dark blue, and mush shorter. She wore a purple dress, with a white shirt underneath. She looked up at Garrod nervously.

"Hello," she spoke softly, causing Garrod to wonder if that was some sort of Newtype thing.

"This is Yurin L'Ciel," Tiffa explained "She is also staying here."

"Hey," Garrod greeted, trying to not scare the young girl "It's okay, I don't bite. I'm just here to get you out of here."

"Okay," Yurin said, then pointed out the window towards the unfolding battle "but I don't think the streets are safe."

"There is an emergency exit in the basement," Tiffa said calmly "We should head there."

"Sounds good," Garrod said "Lets go!"

The three teens rushed down the stairs, and into the basement. Locating the escape hatch, Garrod pulled it open, and let the girls go down first, before heading down himself. Just as they reached the bottom, a stray missile struck the building, destroying it. They had just barely escaped with their lives.

"Alright," Garrod said, panting a little "Where to now?"

"I think we should head that way." Tiffa said, pointing to a corridor with a sign that read "Hanger."

"Sounds good," Garrod said.

As the group headed down the sparsely lit corridor, they had no idea what the would find on the other end.

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**January 25, 0079 4:00 PM**

**Orb Union, Side 7**

**Heliopolis Colony, Exterior**

The defensive fleet outside the colony was caught completely off-guard by the internal explosion.

"What the hell was that?" The Captain of the Malta asked.

"There was an explosion at the Archangel's dock sir," a crew member responded "we can't confirm the ships status!"

"Alright," he began "Scramble search and rescue crews, and patch me through to the…"

He never finished his sentence, as a beam of light lanced out and struck another ship, the _Sevastopol,_ directly in the bridge, leaving it without a command center.

"Sir," a sensor operator yelled "We've got two ZAFT Cruisers, emerging from the Wreckage field, a Sturm and a Tirpitz."

"N-Jammer Interference detected!" another operator yelled "Enemy ships are launching Zakus!"

The Captain was rendered speechless. How could ZAFT be so bold as to attack the colony? Was the earlier explosion their work too? The Captain forced his own shock down, and put on a hardened expression.

"Helmsman," he yelled "Bring us to an optimal firing position, then unleash everything we've got on them!"

"I want our Moebius Squadron in the air yesterday!" he continued, turning to La Flaga "That means you, Lieutenant!"

"Yes sir!" Mu wasted no time in getting off the bridge, and down to the hanger, which had become the definition of organized chaos.

Pilots, technicians, and flight crews ran at a frantic pace, attempting to get the Fighters out and into battle. Mu himself rushed to his personal craft, the Moebius Zero, a specialized mobile armor that featured four remote controlled gun-barrels on top of the standard armament. These gun-barrels were almost impossible to use if you were a normal pilot, but for a Newtype like Mu, they were all but second nature. Sealing up his flight suit, Mu maneuvered his orange Moebius Zero onto the launch catapult. As final preparations completed, the ground crew scrambled out of the way.

"Mu La Flaga, Moebius Zero, launching!" he declared, as his fighter was launched into the vacuum of space. Forming up with the rest of the squadron, he activated his comm-link.

"Hawk Lead to all Team Leaders," Mu said "What is your status, over!"

"This is Hammer Lead," one of the leaders spoke up "All Hammers successfully departed from the _Leningrad_, over."

"This is Hellfire Lead," another said "Hellfire is away, but we lost Griffin, and the _Sevastopol_ is sunk, over!"

"This is Helo Three," the last voice over the radio said "Helo Lead and Two are dead, so Its just me, over!"

In addition to these Fighters, groups of remote controlled Gunpods launched from the remaining cruisers, bolstering the defenders strength, if only a little.

"Alright," Mu said "Everyone form up on me."

As the two sides raced towards each other, the odds didn't look good. At full strength in an surprise attack, Mu would have been confident of victory, but with the element of surprise going to ZAFT, it left him at a disadvantage. The 9 Moebius Fighters and 12 Gunpods finally met the 8 Zakus, and the world seemed to burst into flames.

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**January 25, 0079 4:00 PM**

**Orb Union, Side 7**

**Heliopolis Colony, Interior**

Back with the Le Creuset Team, Yzak was scanning the area around the base with binoculars. Finally, he located their quarry.

"That's it," he stated "It's just like Commander Le Creuset said."

"What?" another member of the Dearka Elsman asked "That if we poke them, they'll come out of their hole? The Feddies are blockheads, after all."

"Alright, listen up!" Denim said over the radio "Gene and I will launch a strafing run, then Wolf and Le Creuset Teams will follow in and secure the G Weapons."

Receiving acknowledgement across the board, Denim jumped of the hill and ignited his boosters, followed shortly by first Gene, and then the commandos. Both Zaku's rocketed towards the test site, ready to unleash hell.

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At the Anaheim Testing Site, Lieutenant Ramius was attempt to get a hold of the situation.

"Alright everyone, keep calm," she said "Do we have any idea what's happening?"

"No ma'am," A worker told her "We lost contact with the Archangel, and exactly what happened is unclear."

Unfortunately, the situation very quickly made itself clear, as two Zakus flew overhead, unleashing a barrage of fire from their machineguns and hip mounted missile pods. Lieutenant Ramius and the other workers hit the deck, as the strafing run took out several vehicles.

"Damn it, it's ZAFT!" she yelled, turning to the other workers "Prepare the 78-3 and 78-5 for combat! Whatever the case, we'll get them to the factory district!"

"Yes Ma'am!" the worker responded.

The Zaku's continued their strafing run, annihilating most of the units guarding the three prototypes that were already on their way to the dock.

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In the labs, everyone was concerned about the explosion that had occurred earlier.

"What was that?" Kira asked "A Meteor?"

"I don't know," Vargas said, concerned "You kids should head to the shelters just in case."

"Huh?" Miriallia asked "But what about you?"

"Don't worry about me, kids," Vargas said "I've just got a few things to check up on first."

"I'll come with you!" Flit said.

"Me too." Emily added.

"Emily, please, go with the others," Vargas said "I need Flit's help, but the last thing I want is for you to get hurt because of my foolishness."

"Okay." Emily said, dejectedly.

The twelve teens rushed out of the room. When they got to the elevators, Sai immediately pressed the call button, but the elevator didn't come.

What's taking so long?" he asked in frustration.

"Hey Genius, you ever tried reading?" Kai said, pointing to the "Do Not Use Elevators In An Emergency" sign that accompanies practically every elevator in existence.

"Oh! Right," Sai said sheepishly "I knew that."

The building continued to shake violently. Moving to the stairwell, the group found it packed with people.

"Hey!" Sai asked "Does anyone know what is going on?"

"It's an attack by ZAFT," one man replied "They've got mobile suits inside the colony!"

The "Creeper" with the trench coat from earlier reacted with shock. Turning away from the stairwell, they bolted off down the hallway. While most of the group ignored this, Amuro and Kira took notice, and took off after him. An explosion shook the building, causing all three teens to stagger for a moment.

"Amuro! Kira!" Fraw called out, the group having noticed their friends departure.

"Don't worry about us!" Amuro yelled back.

"Yeah, we'll be back in a moment!" Kira continued.

The mystery man continued running, followed by the two "Techno Nerds." Fraw stared in their direction, before making a decision.

"I'll go after them," she said "make sure they don't do something stupid. You guys just get out."

Fraw then took off after her wayward friends, the rest of the group heading down, hoping that Amuro and Kira didn't do something stupid.

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Outside, Gene and Denim continued their relentless assault, destroying a number of armored vehicles. Orb vehicles opened fire on the suits with bullets and missiles, but the Zakus intercepted the missiles, dodged the bullets, and returned fire, taking down the Jeeps and Tanks in a few shots. Just when it seemed as though the day couldn't possibly get worse for the defending soldiers, the ZAFT commandos arrived.

"Destroy the parts that we can't carry, as well as the factories," Yzak ordered "According to the report, their should be five suits here, but I only see three."

"The others are probably still inside the factory." Athrun stated "Rusty and My Squads will go, Yzak, you guys take these three.

"Okay, good luck," Yzak replied, turning to the others "If you get one of the suits, make sure to disarm any self destruct mechanism you find inside."

The commandos touched down, unleashing a hail of bullets against the few surviving personnel. Those who attempted to hide inside the trailers were met with grenades. In no time at all, ZAFT had total control of the area.

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Captain Paolo Cassius scowled. He should have seen this coming. ZAFT had not only infiltrated the colony, but also launched a full scale frontal assault against their defensive fleet. This was the worst case scenario.

"Lieutenant Noa!" he yelled "Take two of your men and head to the Test Site. We need to begin loading now!"

"Yes sir!" Bright responded, turning to the bridge crew. "Oscar, Omar, you're with me!"

The two officers nodded, and followed Bright off of the bridge. Captain Cassius could only hope that they were not already to late.

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After a few minutes of running, Amuro and Kira caught up to the mystery man.

"What are you doing?" Kira asked, grabbing hold of the guy "it's no use going that way."

"Why are you following me?" the other teen said "You should get away from here!"

"He's right you know!" Fraw said, finally having caught up to her two friends "This is a dangerous situation!"

As if to emphasize the point, an explosion occurred behind them, blowing up a powerful gust that knocked the hat off of the mystery person, revealing…

"A…Girl?" Kira said, surprised that the person they had been chasing had been a woman the whole time.

"Of course I'm a girl!" she shouted angrily "What were you thinking this whole time!"

"It's not our fault that you dress like some kind of flasher." Amuro said.

As Fraw and the girl glared at the tactless teen, another explosion occurred further back. Turning forward once again, the girl continued forward.

"Just go!" she said "There is something I have to check here first!"

"We can't exactly go back the way we came!" Kira pointed out, before grabbing the girl again "Here, this way!"

"Let go, you fool!" she yelled, but seeing as he would not let go, she signed sadly "I never expected that I would get stuck in here."

"Neither did we," Fraw said comfortingly "but for now, we've just got to stick together."

"There should still be some shelters left in the factory district." Amuro said, checking his PDA.

As the four teens rushed towards the factory district, the sounds of gunfire became clearer and clearer. Finally, the group exited onto the catwalks of one of the factories, and came across a startling sight. Two mobile suits, one colored pure red, the other white, blue, and red, were lying in transport truck on the factory floor.

"What is this?" Kira asked, stunned.

"I knew it," the mystery girl cried, dropping to the floor "The Earth Federation's new mobile weapons."

"Father," she yelled "You've betrayed us all!"

Unfortunately, that outburst got the attention of Lieutenant Ramius, who instinctively turned towards the noise and fired off a warning shot. Kira grabbed the girl, and ran with Amuro and Fraw further down the catwalk.

"Children?" Ramius exclaimed, surprised to see civilians still evacuating.

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On the freeway, the Le Crueset Team had secured the mobile weapons, and had begun to power them up. Slowly, the three metal giants stood up, the artificial sunlight reflecting off of their armor.

"Well, this is pretty impressive," Yzak said from the cockpit of the Gundam Duel "How's your Dearka?"

"It good," Dearka responded from the cockpit of the Guncannon Buster "I didn't have to do nearly as much re-calibration as I though I would have to."

"This is weird!" Nicol Amalfi said from the Gundam Blitz "The OS seems to way advanced!"

"Yeah," Yzak agreed "What was it called again? AGE System, of something, like that."

"I'm more concerned about Athrun and Rusty?" Dearka admitted "They're taking an awfully long time."

"They'll be fine," Yzak assured his comrades "In the meantime, we should head back to base with these three."

"Roger that," Sergeant Denim said over the comm "We'll follow you once the last two suits are secure."

With that the three suits lifted off, heading back towards the maintenance tunnels they had first entered the colony in. Denim and Gene, on the other hand, moved over to the factory, intent on aiding the remaining commandos in their theft of the last two G Weapons.

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Amuro, Kira, Fraw, and the other girl finally made it to the back of the factory, where there was a shelter. Running up to the shelter, Amuro activated the control panel.

"See," Kira said to the girl "Some people evacuated here."

"Hey," a voice called over the intercom "Is there still someone out there?"

"Yeah," Amuro said "My friends and I got stuck out here. Can you let us in?"

"Sorry, kid," the man on the other end said "We're already filled to capacity."

"Are you sure?" Fraw asked "We're just teenagers, so we won't take up to much space."

"Sorry, but there's no way I can…Hey, lady, what are you doing?" the man said suddenly, and some commotion could be heard behind the door.

Then, a new voice came over the intercom. "Fraw, dear, is that you?"

"Mom!" Fraw yelled in surprise "What are you doing here?"

"Your Grandfather and I were going to Anaheim to visit you, but then the attack happened," she explained "Oh, darling, I'm so glad that you are alright."

"Mrs. Bow," Amuro cut in "We know that its really full in there, but could you please take Fraw and the other girl we have here. Kira and I will find another shelter."

"Oh Amuro, you are such a brave man," Mrs. Bow said "I think I finally understand why Fraw took such a liking to you, and yes, we'll let them in."

"Yeah, sure," The guy from earlier said, before muttering "I'm not paid enough to put up with this shit."

As the heavy doors to the shelter began to open, the mysterious girl spoke up.

"You can't be serious," she yelled "There's no way you can make it through all the fighting that's going on!"

"We can, and we will," Kira said "You just get in the shelter, it will be safe there."

There was absolutely no way that the group could have known that the two Zakus that had previously been firing wantonly around the area had focused their assault on the factory. There was also no way for them to know that Gene had just unleashed his last missile into the factory, and that that missile was headed directly for them. Realistically, by the time they would have heard it, the missile would have impacted and killed them.

Yet somehow, Amuro did know.

"MOVE!" Amuro yelled, pushing his friends to the side.

Less than a second later the missile streaked by, entering the now open shelter, and exploding, instantly killing all of its occupants. Fraw got up first.

"Mom!" she called, hoping beyond hope that her mother had survived. Unfortunately, her mothers charred remains lay at the entrance of the shelter, where just seconds before, she had been jubilantly awaiting her daughter. At this sight, Fraw broke down.

"NO!" she cried, sinking to her knees "No, Mom, No, No, Mom."

Fraw's speech disintegrated into cries of "No" and "Mom", the other teens could only watch on in shock. While the mystery girl and Kira could only stare horrified at the scene, deep in Amuro, something was rising. Slowly, the shock started to wear off, replaced by seething rage. How dare these ZAFT bastards. What the hell gave them the right to come here, and do this. Then, Amuro remembered something, something the girl had said. Slowly, he turned to her.

"What Do You Know." He asked, emotionless, except for the hint of the anger building within him.

"W. ?" the girl asked, clear intimidated by the boys sudden change.

"When we got here, you said something about those suits," he continued, more and more anger seeping into his voice until he was screaming "You know why we're being attack, so I'll ask again. **WHAT! DO! YOU! KNOW!**"

"Amuro, please," Kira begged his friend "She isn't the one who did this!"

Amuro forced himself to calm down, but maintained eye contact with the girl. Finally, she spoke up.

"Alright," she said "I'll tell you."

"My name," she stooped to take a deep breath, before continuing "is Cagalli Yula, and my parents are… rather high up in Orb society."

"A few months ago," she began "I got information stating that several Orb families, including my own, were secretly working together with the Earth Federation to develop new mobile weapons, in strict violation of our own neutrality."

"At first," Cagalli continued " I dismissed this as conspiracy, but more and more reports came in, I decided to investigate it myself. That's why I was here, to talk with the man in charge of the project, one Professor Tem Ray."

That hit Amuro like a punch in the gut. His Dad was the reason for all of this. All the death and destruction, what had happened to Fraw's Mom and Grandpa, all because of his own Father. Was this what he spent late nights working on? Was this why he kept hand Kira and him all this work? How much of the work they did in the lab was secretly being used to make weapons for the Earth Federation?

"I…I have to go." Amuro stuttered out, before bolting back towards the labs.

"What happened?" Cagalli asked, stumped at the boy having another sudden mood swing.

"He's Amuro Ray, Tem Ray's son." Kira explained.

Cagalli blinked. That kid was Tem Ray's son? She could definitely sympathize with him, He must feel like the same way she had when she had discovered her father's involvement in the G Project. She just hoped this Amuro didn't get himself killed.

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**January 25, 0079 4:15 PM**

**Orb Union, Side 7**

**Heliopolis Colony, Exterior**

Outside of the colony, the battle was not going well. The Moebius Squadron had managed to damage three Zaku's badly enough for them to require repairs, but had yet to shoot down a single unit. In return, they had lost three Fighters. Even with the added support of the remote controlled Gunpod units, of which six had been shot down, the battle was not looking up for the defenders.

"Luke, Gail!" Mu called his wingmen "Form up on me!"

The three fighters moved into formation, an Mu spoke up again.

"We're going to hit the Zaku that's on Helo 3's tail.," he said "I'll distract it with my gun-barrels, then will hit it in unison with our Gauss Cannons."

Receiving acknowledgement from his wingmen, Mu surged forward. Detaching his two upper gun barrels from the Moebius Zero's frame, Mu directed them at the Zaku, which, as he had expected, dodged the fire. His wingmen then charged from opposite directions, unleashing a hail of Gauss Slugs. While none hit fatally, the Zaku was out of control, allowing Mu to finish it up with a shot of his own.

"Yeah," Gail cheered over the radio "That's how Hawk Team flies."

They weren't able to celebrate yet, however, as a Zaku locked onto them and began pursuit. The team tried to shake him, but the Zaku was persistent.

"Damn, this guys not giving up," Luke said "got any ideas, sir?"

"Actually, I've got one that is just crazy enough to work," Mu said "We'll skim the _Malta's _deck. Our pursuer will either break off or take fire, either way, we lose him."

The team flew towards the besieged _Malta_. The Zaku decided to risk following them, and began to take fire from the cruiser. Mu suddenly launched all his gun barrels at once, and initiated a multi angel assault on the Zaku. As good as its pilot was, he couldn't handle all the fire at once, and wound up going down in smoke.

"Two kills!" Luke cheered "At this rate we'll…"

Before Luke could finish his sentence, machinegun fire ripped through his cockpit, killing him instantly.

"Shit," Gail yelled "New contact, it Le Creuset!"

Mu and Gail found themselves staring at a Zaku, but not the standard model. This was a commander use high performance model, the Hi-Zack. It's grey and white paintjob indicated that it was the personal machine of Rau Le Creuset himself, and both remaining Hawks knew what that meant. Rau effortlessly avoided their attacks, but eventually, Gail managed to get behind Creuset. Unfortunately, this is exactly what he wanted.

"Gail, look out!" Mu shouted, but it was to late, as the speed Hi-Zack suddenly spun around, running through Gail's Moebius with its heat saber.

As if things weren't bad enough, the _Falmel_ managed to score a hit on the _Leningrad's_ engines, sending it on a collision course with the _Malta_. A huge fireball erupted as the two ships collided.

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**January 25, 0079 4:20 PM**

**Orb Union, Side 7**

**Heliopolis Colony, Interior**

Amuro ran like a man possessed. There was no way his dad was responsible for this, but Cagalli had seemed pretty convinced that her information was correct. He had to ask him, he had to hear the truth from his fathers mouth.

Rushing through the abandoned labs, he pulled out his PDA.

"Personnel Search," he said "Professor Tem Ray."

"Match found," the machine answered "Tem Ray is currently in sublevel six, hanger five."

Amuro managed to find an elevator that still worked, and headed down to sublevel six. The whole place seemed deserted, and there was no artificial gravity this close to the outside of the colony. Floating through the area, Amuro managed to locate Hanger 5. Inside, there were three more mobile suits, these ones colored Red, Blue, and Gold respectively, as well as his father.

"I need these suits loaded onto the elevator and sent to the _White Base _immediately!" he yelled at one of the workers.

"But sir," the worker responded "I thought that these suits were to go to Orb?"

"Plans change!" he responded "We've already lost three to ZAFT, and we have no idea whether or not the _Archangel_ is in functioning condition. They'll get the suits we promised them, just later."

"Dad!" Tem was surprised to hear his sons voice, and turned around

"Amuro?" he asked "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Amuro countered angrily "Is this what you've been working on all this time, mobile suits for a nation we are not part of!"

"It is more complicated than that," his father said "There was a mutual agreement between the Federation and Orb."

"Yeah, Cagalli said something about that," Amuro stated "but that doesn't change the fact that your work has brought ZAFT to this colony!"

"Amuro," Tem sighed "I can't justify what I did, at least not right now, but I don't want to mess up your life any more than I already have, so please leave."

"Fine!" Amuro yelled.

No one had noticed that while the father and son argued, a shadowy figure had slipped into the cockpit of the Guncannon Barrel. Suddenly, its power systems started up.

"Huh," one of the technicians said "Who the hack is in the Barrel?"

Suddenly, the Barrel tore through its restraints. Stepping out onto the floor, the two gun barrel pods affixed to its shoulders detached. Zipping around thanks to the lack of gravity, they both opened fire, unleashing a hail of fire across the hanger. Tem managed to push Amuro onto the freight elevator, but was hit in the process.

"Ugh," Amuro said as he hit the wall, before looking up at his father "Dad!"

Tem had had most of his lower body shredded, and was clinging onto the freight elevator controls. The pilot of the Barrel, seemingly satisfied with the wanton destruction he had caused, walked over to a weapons rack, and picked up a bazooka.

"Amuro, I'm sorry," Tem said as he pushed the up button on the control panel "please, forgive me."

The elevator shot up, and just in time, as the barrel fired the bazooka at the hanger doors, blasting them open, and escaping into space. Everything in the hanger, including Tem and the other two mobile suits, were sucked into the vacuum of space.

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Kira, after a few minutes, decided to try and follow Amuro. Making sure the Fraw and Cagalli were relatively safe in the back of the hanger, he ran back to the catwalks. As he went, he noticed that the women who had shot at them earlier was still fighting. Suddenly, a ZAFT soldier tried to flank her from a higher catwalk.

"Watch out," Kira yelled "Behind you!"

The woman responded with a hail of bullets, which felled the solider, but also happened to be the last she had for her rifle. Looking up, she saw Kira.

"That kid from earlier?" Ramius mumbled "Why did he come back?"

Lieutenant Ramius had little time to dwell on this, as one of her few remaining defenders was shot dead. Discarding her spent rifle, she jumped and pulled a sidearm, taking another ZAFT commando out.

"Come here!" she yelled to Kira.

"Thank you," he said "but I'm going to the shelters in the left block! Please, ignore me."

"There's nothing but a door that way!" she told him, as an explosion ripped through the other exit.

Seeing no other choice but to follow the woman, Kira did as she told, jumping down onto the mobile suit. As this was happening, a lucky Federation worker managed to hit Rusty, much to Athrun's shock.

"Rusty!" he cried out, charging forward and gunning down the worker.

"No!" Ramius cried as her last subordinate was gunned down. Athrun fired off a burst at her, grazing her arm. As she collapsed, Kira rushed to her aid, while Athrun, freshly out of ammo, pulled a knife and moved in for the kill. Then, they saw each other.

"Athrun?" Kira asked, shocked to see his friend, one that he distinctly remembered despising war, in a ZAFT commando outfit, gunning down workers on a neutral colony.

"Kira?" Athrun was equally shocked to see his old friend here, on top of the Federation mobile suit, standing over the wounded Lieutenant.

Ramius, however, made use of this distraction to pull her pistol on him. Realizing that he wouldn't be able to close before she could take a shot, he fell back. Unfortunately, the hanger began to fall apart. Ramius, forcing herself up in spite of the pain, threw Kira into the cockpit of the mobile suit, before jumping in herself. Athrun himself jumped into the other mobile suit.

Cagalli and Fraw could only hold each other and hope that they remained safe as the entire factory went up in flames.

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Amuro didn't know where he was. Okay, that wasn't true. He knew that he was in a freight elevator in the Anaheim Electronics building, but he was still rather disoriented. He noticed that gravity seemed to have come back, which meant he was closer to the middle of the colony. Forcing himself up, he moved towards the door, and heard voices.

"We have to use it!" one said "We don't have anything else."

"I know!' a second voice said "But we don't have a pilot!"

Amuro recognized those voices. He opened the door between the elevator and the room, and was greeted by the last two people he expected to see.

"Vargas? Flit?" he asked, incredulously "What are you two doing down here?"

"I could ask the same thing of you." Vargas replied "Shouldn't you be in a shelter?"

"The only one we found got blasted by ZAFT." Amuro said. "And I came her looking for my Father."

Vargas got a little pale after hearing that.

"Amuro," he began "I don't know how to tell you this, but he is…"

"Dead?' Amuro cut him off "I know, I was there. The last thing he did was get me out of the hanger, and ask for my forgiveness."

"Well, Amuro," Flit asked "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know!" he said, collapsing against a control panel "I just wish there was some way I could help to stop all of this!"

Flit suddenly got a look in his eyes. Vargas took notice, and immediately spoke up.

"I know what you're thinking Flit, and it is not going to work." he said.

"Why not?" Flit countered "Amuro has the best scores on the simulator, even better than mine."

"Still," Vargas said "He doesn't have any formal training!"

"What are you talking about?" Amuro asked.

Vargas headed over to a large tarp-covered object in the middle of the room. As Amuro expected, under the tarp, there was a mobile suit. It appeared similar to the ones in the factory. It even had practically the same white, blue, and red color scheme.

"This is the fruit of all the research that has occurred here over the last five years," Vargas said "It is the RGX-78-2: Gundam Alex."

"It was designed for use by Newtypes," Flit explained "but since we were never able to get as much research on them as ZAFT had, we could only optimize it to match a Newtypes mental capabilities."

"W..Wait a minute!" Amuro asked "How involved in this are you guys?"

"I mostly just do repairs and testing," Vargas admitted "hell, I thought that these were for Orb when I first signed on."

"I designed the Gundam's OS," Flit said "It's called the AGE System."

Amuro wished he could say he was surprised, but he knew Flit was almost as good as Kira when it came to computers.

"So, kid?" Vargas asked "Are you in?"

"I…I don't know if I can do it." Amuro said "This is a lot to ask and…"

"WARNING" a nearby computer terminal blared "FACTORY ONE HAS BEEN DESTROYED."

"What," Amuro said, realizing that was the Factory he left Kira and Fraw in. He quickly moved to the computer and began cycling through what cameras were still active. Then, he spotted them. Fraw and Cagalli were laying on the floor covered in ash and surrounded by fire. It was then that he made his decision.

"I'll do it," he said softly "I'll pilot."

"Alright then," Vargas said "Get into the cockpit, I'll help you along the way."

Amuro did as he was told, moving into the mobile suits chest. As the hatch closed up, the computer screen in front of him blared to life. It read…

**Mobile Suit Operating System**

**Version 0078**

**A**nalyze

**G**enerate

**E**nhance

**A.G.E. System**

**GPX-78-2 Gundam "Alex"**

"Startup sequence complete," Vargas said "Begin loading procedures."

Robotic arms descended from the ceiling, picking up the mobile suit, and loading it onto the freight elevator.

"Locking the Gundam in place…now!" Flit said, as special clamps kept the mobile suit upright and attached to the platform. "Launching in five, four, three, two, one, Launch!"

The freight elevator began its ascent to the surface, with a very determined pilot in its cockpit.

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Athrun easily landed his stolen G Weapon a few feet from the burning factory. He saw the last unit, the one that was still in the Earth Federation's control, set down nearby, only to stumble and fall to its knees.

"Lieutenant," Denim yelled over the radio "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he responded "I'm fine, but the bastards got Rusty. They're still in control of the last G Weapon."

"Yeah, and what a remarkable job they're doing." Gene remarked.

Inside the Strike, Lieutenant Ramius was struggling to control the mobile suit. Every time she tried something, it either moved to much, or not enough. She had almost gotten the machine to its feet, when a kick from one of the Zaku's sent it face first into the ground.

"Hahahahaha," Gene laughed "The Feddies can't even get their own units to stand, let alone fight!"

Ramius responded by sweeping the suits leg, knocking the Zaku to the ground.

"Ugh," Gene said "Nice trick Feddie, but you won't catch me next time."

"Athrun, we're good here," Denim said over the radio "We'll deal with this units, you just get that suit back to the _Gamow_.

"Right!" Athrun said, but in his mind, he was still thinking about who he saw in the warehouse.

"_Kira," _he thought "_Was that really you?"_

Forcing that out of his mind, he activated his units thrusters and headed for he exit.

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Fraw felt awful. She had just had the worst dream she had ever had in her life. ZAFT had attacked Heliopolis, then her Mom and Grandpa had been killed, Amuro and Kira had run off, and she had been left with a girl she barely knew in an exploding building. She had no idea what she had done last night that had set such a dream upon her, but she was just glad to be back in her nice soft be…

"_Wait a minute" _she thought _"Why is it so hot, why does my bed feel like cold steel, and who am I holding on to?"_

Opening her eyes, she found herself staring at an unconscious girl with blonde hair. Cagalli, if she remembered correctly. Suddenly, her eyes widened. If Cagalli was real, then everything else was real too!

Looking around, Fraw realized the horrible truth, her "dream" had been real. She wanted to cry, to just sit there and cry, but she forced herself to be strong. After all, Cagalli was knocked out, she had to protect her.

Suddenly, Fraw heard a noise. Turning around, she noticed that a metal door was opening up. An ominous shape appeared behind the door. A Mobile Suit! Fraw watched in terror as the metal behemoth stepped out of the room, and then looked directly at her. She closed her eyes and waited for the end. Instead, she heard a voice she never thought she would hear again in her life.

"Fraw!" Amuro's voice rang out "Are you okay?"

"Amuro?" she looked up, and was shocked to see Amuro sitting in the mobile suits cockpit "What are you doing in there?"

"It's a long story," he replied "Hurry, get inside."

Fraw didn't argue with that, quickly getting herself and the unconscious Cagalli into the mobile suit.

"Fraw, good to see that you are okay!" Vargas said over the radio.

"Vargas?" Fraw said, surprised to hear the old mans voice. "is Flit there to?

"Yeah," the young boy answered "I guess you can probably figure out what the thing we had to check on was."

"Don't get to distracted," Vargas reminded everyone "We still have those Zaku's to worry about."

"Right!" Amuro said, as he moved to mobile suit to the factories collapsed entrance.

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"Damn it!" Lieutenant Ramius cursed, as the Gundam found itself on the ground yet again.

"It looks like you need to work on the system a bit more." her passenger chimed in.

"We were in a rush to implement it," she explained "This unit wasn't even supposed to be moved till later."

"Alright, Feddie," Gene said, towering over his opponent "Time to die."

CRASH!

Both Gene and Denim looked back towards the factory, and were shocked to see another G Weapon smashing its way out of the wreckage.

"What the hell," Gene said "I thought that there were only supposed to be five of the damn things."

Ramius gasped. She recognized the suit, but as far as she knew, they didn't have a pilot for it. So either they had had a pilot and didn't tell her, or they didn't and some rookie was piloting it for the first time. She really hoped it was the former. Suddenly, her passenger leaned over her.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed.

"Fixing this mess," he replied, looking over the Operating System "Oh, here's the problem, you had all the calibrations wrong. I can fix that."

Ramius could only watch in awe as this kid, who had never seen the G Weapons before, began completely recalibrating the machine. She was so shocked, she even gave up her chair to him.

"Alright, you can move, congratulations," Gene taunted, the initial shock having worn off, "but can you fight?"

"Vargas," Amuro asked "What weapons does this thing have?"

"Not much, unfortunately," Vargas said glumly "Most of its armaments were in other parts of the facility, but you should have ammo for the head mounted vulcan cannons."

"Right!" Amuro wasted no time in unleashing a hail of bullets at the nearest Zaku, forcing Gene to dodge. Unfortunately, the vulcans ran out of ammo.

"Huh!' Vargas said "Darn it, don't tell me they didn't fully load the vulcans too?"

"What's wrong Feddie," Gene taunted "Out of ammo? Then DIE!"

Gene charged towards the Gundam Alex. Part of Amuro wanted to panic, but he remembered what had happened, to Fraw, to his Dad, and knew he had to fight. He waited until the Zaku was extremely close, and the lashed out, grabbing its faceplate. He followed this up by simultaneously pulling back hard and kicking the Zaku in the stomach, ripping the faceplate of and sending the Zaku tumbling. However, he was forced to shield himself with his arms, as the other Zaku began shooting him.

"Gene, you get out of here," Denim ordered "I'll keep you covered."

"Okay!" Gene quickly ignited his boosters and flew towards the maintenance shaft., but there was no way in hell that Amuro was letting him go that easy. Not after what had happened to Fraw's folks.

"I almost forgot," Vargas cried over the radio "You have a pair of beam sabers on your suits hips."

"Right, thanks!" Amuro quickly formulated a plan. Running towards the fleeing Zaku, he ignited his own boosters, jumping over Denim's unit, and blazing towards Gene's.

"Gene, look out!" Denim yelled over the comm. Gene turned, but was unable to react fast enough, as Amuro pulled a beam saber out, igniting the pink blade, he sliced Gene's Zaku in half. The Zakus pilot died instantly, and its red eye fading out. Suddenly, the Zaku exploded into a brilliant fireball, sending the Alex crashing to the ground.

Back in the Strike, Kira had finally finished his calibrations, allowing the Strike to stand with little effort.

"Damn it," Denim cursed at the sight of the other G Weapon getting to it feet "As if I didn't have enough problems today!"

Denim fired his machinegun at the Gundam, but he had used up a lot of ammo in his attacks earlier, and finally ran out. Throwing the machinegun away, he pulled out his heat hawk. In the Strike, Kira looked through his weapons selection.

"Let's see," he said, looking through the weapons selection "I've got vulcan cannons, and beam sabers. The vulcans didn't look to powerful when the other unit used them, so.. Sabers it is."

The Strike pulled out a beam saber, just as Denim rushed forwards towards him. Kira, unwilling to take a life, even that of a hostile soldier, was quickly forced on the defensive. As he was pushed back, however, Kira noticed something that made his blood run cold. just behind the Gundam was his entire group of friends!

_"What are they doing here?" _Kira thought _"Why haven't they gotten to a shelter yet?"_

Suddenly, Kira was filled with a new resolve. knowing that his friends were in danger, he now felt the need to end the fight as quickly as possible, he opened fire with his vulcans, causing the Zaku to flinch in surprise. taking advantage of this, Kira rushed forwards, stabbing the Zaku's upper torso. Not missing a beat, he pulled his second saber and jammed it in the Zaku's neck, causing the mobile suit to shut down.

"Damn it," Denim cursed under his breath "I have to retreat."

Denim quickly activated his units self destruct sequence, ditching the inoperable unit and boosting away as fast as he could. While Kira was completely unaware of the danger right in front of him, Vargas realized exactly what had happened.

"Amuro!" Vargas called out to the Alex's pilot "You need to get the Strike out of there!"

"Huh," Amuro asked "Why?"

"That Zaku just activated its self-destruct," Vargas explained "It's going to blow!"

Amuro nodded in response, quickly moving to the other Gundam. Wrapping his arms around it, he hit the reverse thrusters hard. The Zaku exploded in a shower of fire, but both Gundams had escaped harm. Setting down a few meters away, the Alex released its grip on the Strike, and both machines faced each other.

"Thanks for the lift, pilot," Ramius said. " I don't think we would have gotten out of there quick enough otherwise."

"Oh, it was nothing," Amuro said, trying not to sound as stressed as he really was "I mean, I would be a pretty lousy pilot if I let my comrades get taken down while I was able to do something about it."

"By the way," Ramius added "I was under the impression that your unit didn't have a test pilot."

"I was recruited…very recently," It wasn't a lie, a few minutes ago was very recent.

"Well, I'm Lieutenant Ramius of the Earth Federation," She introduced herself "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm Amuro Ray, and…" that was all Amuro got out before another voice spoke up from the Strike.

"Amuro?" a familiar voice said "You're that things pilot?"

"Kira? Is that you?" Amuro was relieved to find that Kira was alright "Thank god. Fraw said that you ran off after me, and she didn't know if you'd made it to safety or not."

"Okay, wait!" Ramius asked "How do you two know each other?"

"Well that's a simple question," Vargas's voice came over the Strike's radio "They're best friends!"

"Vargas!" Murrue Ramius never thought she would be so happy to here the older technicians voice in her life. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Vargas said. "It will take more than the likes of ZAFT to get rid of me."

"Um," Fraw's voice came over the comm "Can we get out now?"

"Hold on!" Ramius was surprised to hear another voice coming from the Alex's cockpit "Who else is in there?"

"Fraw Bow and Cagalli Yula, Ma'am," Amuro responded "They were both trapped in the factory."

"Be that as it may," Ramius started "Having neutral civilians inside top secret military hardware is a massive breach of security!"

"Technically, Lieutenant," Vargas said "These suits haven't been turned over to the Federation yet, and are still the property of Anaheim. What's more, these "Civilians" have all been working part time at the lab for Professor Ray, and so are technically Anaheim personnel."

"That's a lot of technicalities, Vargas," Ramius sighed "So, basically, I have to choose between following standard procedure and getting into a legal battle with Anaheim, or letting these kids go, and probably getting a huge reprimand from command?"

"Pretty much." Vargas replied.

"I need a drink!" and with that, Lieutenant Murrue Ramius passed out.

"Ah, Miss." Kira yelled, trying to keep the unconscious soldier stable.

"What happened," Vargas inquired "Is she alright?'

"She passed out," Kira explained "I think that bullet wound from earlier might have…"

"What!?" Vargas yelled "She's bleeding out from a bullet wound, and you're just letting it continue? Get her out of that suit and stabilize her!"

"Yes sir." Kira complied, lowering the Gundam down, and opening the cockpit.

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Sayla and the rest of her friends had thankfully gotten out of the Zaku's blast radius, and were now discussing what their next move should be.

"I say we just leave," Kai opted "I'm sure there are still some open shelters!"

"But we still have no idea where Amuro, Kira, and Fraw are!" Tolle countered.

"They probably got into a shelter by now," Miriallia pointed out "and we really should do the same."

"Hey, look!" Sai pointed to the two mobile suits "I think the pilots are getting out!"

As they looked, several figures disembarked from the two G Weapons.

"That's funny," Sayla commented "It almost looks like…wait a minute is that Kira?"

"Yeah," Hayato agreed "and it looks like Amuro and Fraw are getting out of the other one."

"And that creeper too!" Kai added "Man, what trouble did those three get into in the half an hour since we last saw them?"

The group headed over to the Gundam's.

"Amuro, Kira, Fraw!" Sayla yelled, getting their attention.

"Sayla, everyone!" Kira was surprised to see the rest of his friends here "What are you doing here?"

"Well, someone," Kai began "I'm not going to say who, decided that they wanted to see the giant robot battle. Nice job with the whole falling down at the beginning, by the way."

"Yeah," Kira said "The Gundam was calibrated wrong, so I had to recalibrate it while Amuro kept them busy."

"Sorry about that," Flit's voice came over the radio "I was supposed to do that earlier, but I wound up working on the stuff Professor Ray had for you instead."

"Flit!' Emily yelled "Are you in that thing to!"

"Don't worry, Emily," Vargas's voice came through the radio "Flit and I are safe and sound in the lower levels."

"Grandpa, Flit," Emily yelled "You have no idea how worried I was for you guys!"

"Only as worried as we were for you.' he replied.

"Hey!" Sayla called "If you guys don't mind, we need some help with the wounded!"

Most of the group rushed over to help, but Kira and Amuro stayed back. Both had a lot on their minds.

"_Athrun" _Kira thought _"Why are you with ZAFT. You always hated war, so why do you fight now? What could of happened to you to turn you into such a ruthless killer?_

"_Dad" _Amuro thought _"I don't know why you were building these suits, but what's done is done. I just wish you were still here, to hear me forgive you."_

"Hey, Amuro, Kira," Vargas called over the radio "I still have some things I need to bring up from the labs. Could you two help clear some of the rubble with your suits, so we can use the freight elevator?"

Both teens agreed, getting back into their Gundams. While a sense of calmness had returned to the battered colony. Everyone was still on edge. After all, ZAFT was still out there, and it is unlikely that they will stop just because they lost two Zakus.

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**Ending Theme: Growing Up**

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**Next Time, on Mobile Suit Gundam Infinity**

"What is with some of this stuff?" Sai asked, looking over the collection of strange things they had retrieved from Anaheim "A giant wrecking ball, and…Super Napalm?"

"Don't let the name fool you, Kid," Vargas said sternly "That stuff is dangerous. It's like regular napalm, but worse!"

"That…doesn't seem physically possible." Sai deadpanned.

"Yeah," Vargas admitted "I said the same thing at first, then some of the stuff burnt down one of the colonies relays!"

"And the wrecking ball?" Sai asked.

"It's not a wrecking ball!" Vargas scolded "It's called the Gundam Hammer!"

"Gundam Hammer?" Kuzzey asked "Why is it called that, isn't it some type of flail?"

"I honestly have no idea," Vargas said sheepishly "I think its name was a joke at first, but then it stuck."

"Seriously!" Kira yelled, "is there any situation in the universe that would require any of these weapons!"

_**Sometime later**_

"Eat this!" Amuro yelled, tossing a canister of Super Napalm at the enemy Zaku. While unable to burn through the suits armor, it happened to hit the units D Type Equipment, causing it to detonate prematurely.

"Oh Crap," Sarge exclaimed "They're using Super Napalm, the most dangerous substance known to man!"

"Super Napalm?" one of his subordinates asked "What's next? A giant flail?"

**See all this and more in Gundam Rising Part 2: Collapsing Land**

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**

**Decepticons, I have returned!**

**So yeah, it's been forever since I last got on here. In the intervening time, I worked on several project that went nowhere, got to college, and have started learning how to drive. Now, I have finally returned to the lands of fan fiction, and started my second story. I personally feel a lot better about this one than my first, but only time, and reviews, will truly tell me of whether or not I succeeded.**

**Now, a couple of things to clarify. First, Altered Universe is dead. Deader than disco. As much as I loved the idea, it was just to much for a novice writer like myself to handle. What, with each episode being split up by commercial breaks, and half the story occurring before the first chapter, I was just over my head. Hopefully, my improved writing skills, thanks in no small part do to my College English teacher, as well as removing the commercials and having the story start from the beginning (There's still a lot of backstory, but most of it is just slightly altered events that occurred in the canon of MSG and SEED) I will be able to actually get this story rolling.**

**Next up, I am still structuring the story on an episodic basis. If the Part 1 in the title and Part 2 in the "Next Time On" segment, didn't give it away, this is going to be a multi-part episode, specifically a three parter. As for why, I can blame Transformers for giving me the idea, but the main reason I'm doing it here is that I am trying to give each of the main protagonists a focus episode. This was Amuro's, next will be Kira's, and lastly we'll have Garrod's. These episodes are also adaptations of the first three episodes of both series.**

**Now, those of you familiar with each series will probably wonder how I'm going to handle the episodes length wise. Events in the original went by a lot faster than in SEED. Just look at how long it took to get back to Earth. In MSG, they got back in Episode 5. In SEED, they got back in Episode 13. That's a big difference. In this story, I'm going to try to stay in between the two, shorter than SEED, but longer than the original. This can be seen in this chapter, since it adapts the first episode of MSG, but goes all they way through half of the second for SEED. Although the first half of SEED episode two was just one big fight scene, for the most part.**

**Now, as you can see I have included an opening and ending theme. Eternal Blaze is from the second season of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, but don't let the name fool you. The show is actually more of a sci-fi show disguised as a Magical Girl show. Its sort of like what would happen if all those darker My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfics like The Immortal Game became canon. Either way, it's a great song, and if you don't like the Nana Mizuki version, you can always listen to the awesome Massaki Endoh cover. The ending theme is Growing Up, the second ending for Transformers: Galaxy Force. It took me forever to find it, but I am glad that I did.**

**Alright, now that I finished with this, its time for the fun part of the Authors Note, The Part where I show off all the fancy tech stuff there was no room for in the main story. Yeah!**

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**Mobile Suits**

_**GPX-78-2 "Gundam Alex"**_

**Features: **AGE System, Energy Battery, Lunar Titanium Armor, Core Block System, Magnetic Coating.

**Armament: **20mm Vulcan Cannon x2, Beam Saber x2, Wire Guided Single Autocannon Gun-Barrel x2.

**Optional: **Shield x1, Beam Rifle x1, Striker Packs.

**Unit Type: **G-Project Experimental Newtype Use Mobile Suit

**Designer: **Anaheim Electronics

**Used By: **Earth Federation

**Appearance:** The Alex in Infinity is a combination of the original RX-78-2 Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam, and the RX-78NT-1 Gundam Alex from Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 War in the Pocket, and visually appears as the original RX-78-2 but with the Alex's arms, and has the RX-78-2's color scheme.

**Description: **The second specialist Gundam unit, the Alex was designed for Newtype pilots. While unable to create anything close to ZAFT's Psycommu System, Anaheim instead opted to streamline the unit for the advanced reaction times a Newtype pilot would posses. As a result, the Alex was given an experimental Magnetic Coating. This worked by causing the units joints to repel each other, allowing it to keep up with the heightened reaction times that Newtypes were known to have. It could still be utilized by non-Newtype pilots, but was notoriously hard to control. The Alex was on of the few units to remain in Federation hands, and it is piloted by Amuro Ray.

_**GPX-78-5 "Gundam Strike"**_

**Features: **AGE System, Energy Battery, Lunar Titanium Armor, Core Block System, Strike System.

**Armament: **20mm Vulcan Cannon x2, Beam Saber x2.

**Optional: **Shield x1, Beam Rifle x1, Striker Packs.

**Unit Type: **G-Project Experimental Multi-Role Mobile Suit

**Designer: **Anaheim Electronics

**Used By: **Earth Federation

**Appearance: **The Strike in Infinity is a combination of the original RX-78-2 Gundam from Mobile Suit Gundam, and the GAT-X105 Gundam Strike from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and visually appears as the original RX-78-2 but with the Strike's head and arms, and has the original Strike's color scheme, which is painted directly on the unit due to the lack of Phase Shift armor.

**Description: **The fifth specialist Gundam, the Strike was designed to be able to fulfill a variety of roles on the battlefield. It achieved this through the use of the Strike System, which allowed it to equip a variety of "Striker Packs" to augment its capabilities. These could be produced by the AGE Builder, which took combat data from the Strike to create Packs based on the pilots fighting style and needs. As a result, the Strike's standard armament is very basic when compared to the other specialist Gundams after the X. The Strike was one of the few units to remain in the Federation's hands, and it it piloted by Kira Yamato.

_**ZMS-06 "Zaku II"**_

**Features**: Energy Battery, Composite Armor.

**Armament:** Shoulder Shield x1, Heat Hawk x1, Machinegun x1, Three Barrel Missile Launcher x2.

**Optional:** Grenade Launcher x1, Sturm Faust x3, Bazooka x1, Cracker Grenades x6, Satchel Charges x3.

**Unit Type:** Mass Production Frontline Mobile Suit

**Designer:** Zodiac Company

**Used By:** ZAFT

**Appearance:** The Zaku II in Infinity is a combination of the original MS-06 Zaku II from Mobile Suit Gundam and the ZGMF-1017 GINN from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and appears with the legs and torso of the GINN, the helmet and backpack of the Proto GINN, and the arms and light green color scheme of the Zaku II.

**Description:** ZAFT's first mass produced mobile suit, the Zaku II is a venerable piece of hardware that rewrote the rulebook on warfare. Designed with an excellent mix of firepower and mobility the Zaku II proved superior to everything the Federation could send against it, both in space and on the ground. Although a number of new specialty designs have begun to appear, the Zaku II is still ZAFT's primary mobile suit. The Zaku II also features a variety of variants for specialist missions. The Zaku II is employed both in space and on earth, where it continues to excel due to its well balanced design.

**Mobile Armors**

_**FF-MA2 "Moebius Fighter"**_

**Features**: Energy Battery, Composite Armor.

**Armament: **Vulcan Cannon x4, Autocannon x2, Missile Pod x2, Gauss Cannon x1

**Optional:** Nuclear Missile x1 or Beam Cannon x1 (In place of Gauss Cannon)

**Unit Type: **Mass Production, Space Use, Waverider Mobile Armor

**Designer: **Hervic Company

**Used By: **Earth Federation, Orb Union

**Appearance: **The Moebius in Infinity is a cross between the Saberfish from Mobile Suit Gundam and the Moebius from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, featuring the Saberfish's main body, minus the engines, and the Moebius's wing mounted engines and purple color scheme.

**Description: **Developed as part of the Earth Federation's Year 70 Rearmament Plan, the Moebius Mobile Armor was designed to act as a Space Superiority Fighter. Designed hand in hand with the Federation's new Thermopylae Class Cruiser and Columbus Class Battleships, the Moebius was designed to be carried by both, though in smaller quantities than a true carrier. Unfortunately, mobile suit development left the Moebius woefully out of date, and it was easily countered by ZAFT's Zakus mobile suits. It is still the main Space Fighter of the Earth Federation, however, and is also used in small numbers by Orb.

_**FF-MA2 Mod.00 "Moebius Zero"**_

**Features**: Energy Battery, Composite Armor.

**Armament: **Vulcan Cannon x4, Gauss Cannon x1, Wire Guided Dual Autocannon Gun-Barrel x4

**Optional:** Beam Cannon x1 (In place of Gauss Cannon)

**Unit Type: **Limited Production, Space Use, Waverider Mobile Armor

**Designer: **Strategic Naval Research Institute

**Used By: **Earth Federation

**Appearance: **The Moebius Zero in Infinity is a cross between the Infinity version of the Moebius and the Moebius Zero from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED. It features the same basic frame as the Moebius, with the Zero's Gun-Barrel pods mounted in the same location where the Engines of the original Saberfish were.

**Description: **The advent of Newtypes came as a complete surprise to the Federation, who had taken Deikun's beliefs to be nonsense. Realizing the need for units that allowed the Federation's Newtype pilots to utilize their potential to the fullest, the Federation turned to the Strategic Naval Research Institute, who chose Hervic's Moebius Fighter as a base. The resulting Moebius Zero was equipped with four wire guided gun-barrel pods, that while next to impossible to use for most, could be easily controlled by those with a Newtypes extra sensory perception. Unfortunately, most Zero's and their pilots were lost during the Battle of Endymion, though a few, like Mu La Flaga's, are still active.

_**GPX-76 "Gunpod**_

**Features**: Energy Battery, Composite Armor, Wireless Control System.

**Armament: **Machinegun x1, Gauss Cannon x1

**Optional:** Missile Pod x2, Beam Rifle x1 (In place of Machinegun)

**Unit Type: **G Project Experimental Remote Controlled Weapons Pod

**Designer: **Anaheim Electronics

**Used By: **Earth Federation

**Appearance: **The Gunpod looks practically the same as the Ball from Mobile Suit Gundam, the only difference being a camera in place of the cockpit.

**Description: **In I.C. 76, Anaheim's engineers were hard at work in creating the Guncannon. However, they realized that they likely wouldn't be able to complete it by the time the year was out, and so developed a simple mobile weapon to fill the model number gap. The resulting Gunpod was a simple, remote controlled Weapons Pod, that while uninspiring, would be able to quickly deploy from ships and bases and take some of the heat off of the Federation's Moebius Fighters. The design was only used by the G Project itself, but a refined variant, the GM Ball, has entered service with the Federation Navy.

**Vessels**

_**Thermopylae Class Cruiser**_

**Features**: High-Energy Reactor, Composite Armor, Remote Control (For Gunpods of Balls).

**Armament:** Beam Cannon x3, CIWS Emplacement x6, Three Tube Torpedo Launcher x2, Aldrin Shuttlecraft x1

**Optional:** Moebius Starfighter x3, Remote Controlled Gunpod x4 or Remote Controlled GM Ball x4

**Unit Type:** Mass Produced Light Escort Cruiser

**Designer:** Nergal Heavy Industries

**Used By:** Earth Federation

**Appearance: **The Thermopylae Class appears as a combination of the Salamis Class Cruisers from Mobile Suit Gundam and the Drake Class Escort Ships from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, featuring the Salamis's main body with the Drake's side thrusters.

**Description:** Developed as part of the Earth Federation's Year 70 Rearmament Plan, the Thermopylae Class Escort Cruiser forms the bulk of the Federation's fleets. Designed to be produced in bulk, the Thermopylae is also able to carry a single team of Moebius Fighters, as well as several remote controlled weapons pods. It is outmatched by ZAFT's Sturm Class Cruisers, however, which feature a heavier armament and mobile suits. As a result, Thermopylae Class Cruisers are often deployed in groups. Thermopylae Class Cruisers still form the bulk of the Earth Federation's Naval forces.

_**Strum Class Cruiser**_

**Features**: High-Energy Reactor, Composite Armor.

**Armament:** Double Barrel Beam Turret x2, Point Defense Gun x8, Torpedo Tubes x4, Sturmwind Shuttlecraft x1

**Optional:** Small Mobile Suit x6 of Big Mobile Suit x4, Extra Mobile Suit Hanger x1

**Unit Type:** Mass Production Medium Space Cruiser

**Designer:** Zimmad Fleet Systems

**Used By:** ZAFT

**Appearance:** The Sturm Class appears as a combination of the Musai Class Cruiser from Mobile Suit Gundam and the Nazca Class Destroyer, with the Nazca's main body and the Musai's hangers, bridge, and light green color scheme.

**Description:** ZAFT's primary space cruiser, the Sturm was designed around the same time as the Zaku, and as a result was designed to be able to hold up to six mobile suits in its hangers. The Sturm replaced the Tirpitz as ZAFT's primary cruiser due to both being easier to produce and being able to field mobile suits. During the war, it easily outmatched the Federation's Thermopylae Class Cruisers, but was fielded in smaller numbers, relying on its firepower and mobile suits to win the day, which they often did. Char Aznable's personal command ship, the _Falmel_, is an example of this class of ship.

_**Tirpitz Class Cruiser**_

**Features**: High-Energy Reactor, Composite Armor.

**Armaments:** Triple Barrel Beam Cannon x2, Point Defense Gun x12, Torpedo Tube x6, Sturmwind Shuttlecraft x2

**Optional:** Small Mobile Suit x9 or Big Mobile Suit x6

**Unit Type:** Mass Production Heavy Space Cruiser

**Designer:** Zimmad Fleet Systems

**Used By:** ZAFT

**Appearance:** The Tirpitz Class Cruiser is a combination of the Chivvay Class Heavy Cruiser from Mobile Suit Gundam and the Laurasia Class Frigate from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, with the back half on the Laurasia and the front half and maroon color scheme of the Chivvay,

**Description:** One of the older ships in ZAFT's arsenal, the Tirpitz was created prior to the widespread introduction of mobile suits and lacked hangers to support them. It's cargo bay, however, was easily able to be modified to support mobile suits, allowing the class to remain viable in today's mobile suit centric battlefield. Tirpitz Class vessels often serves as command ships, due to their improved firepower and carrying capacity over the Sturm. The _Gamow_, the headquarters of the Le Creuset Team, is a Tirpitz Class Cruiser.

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**You may have noticed that there are a few things missing from the list. Well, I wanted to include units that did something important, and while the other G Weapons appeared, and Rau's Hi-Zack was in battle, I wanted to save them for the next few chapters when they make their true debut. Also, the mobile suit on the TV early on was the Tallgeese from Wing, but that won't be seen again for a while (but it will be seen again).**

**Anyway, please read, review, and be happy that not only is each chapter of this story a full episode, but that you don't have to find a new crossover section every time I post an episode.**


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